Boy to throw out first pitch from 1,800 miles away

Thirteen-year-old Nick LeGrande will throw out what has to be the longest first pitch in history at tonight’s A’s-Yankees game — tossing it from 1,800 miles away in his hometown of Kansas City, Mo.

He’ll have a little help, of course. Nick, who has been diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia, a rare blood disorder, will make the throw using remote technology: a telerobotic pitching machine will actually serve up the pitch.

The A’s say it’s believed to be the first telerobotic first pitch in Major League Baseball history. The same technology is used to perform remote operations aboard the International Space Station and allows doctors to perform surgery in remote areas.

An A’s fan (and something of a Yankees fan, too) who grew up playing Little League Baseball, Nick can no longer attend games with live crowds due to his illness. Before tonight’s game begins, however, LeGrande and his parents, Mike and Shari LeGrande, will be taken to a mini-baseball stadium, specially constructed by Google at its Kansas City offices. Nick’s friends, doctors and former teammates will all be in attendance, too.

The telerobotic pitching machine, meanwhile, will sit atop the pitcher’s mound in Oakland. The machine will follow Nick’s movements as he winds up and throws, allowing him to throw the pitch remotely and to see it happen at O.co Coliseum.